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Abstract

The impact of neo-liberal policies on labor and employment opportunities in
developing country like India has been less than satisfactory. The purpose of this
dissertation is to study the role of government in employment generation and the impact
of employment generation on long term development. In order to do so, the case of
India's National Rural Employment Guarantee Act has been taken as a case study. The
study argues that employment generation programs by the government is not only
important to create jobs, but is also necessary for long term development of the country.
The study concludes the impact of an employment generation program is not limited to a
narrowly understood concept of economic growth. Instead, by using an alternate
understanding of development-namely the capability approach, it can be concluded that
employment generation has long lasting impact on the development of rural
communities. Field work in two states of India have been used as evidence to support
this argument. To make the case for employment generation various approaches have
been taken including Marxian, post colonial and heterodox economic approaches like
Keynesian and Kaleckian economics.